


surrender to all the splendor

by mikochan_noda



Series: Sasusaku-Headcanons [2012-2014] [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 2012, F/M, Gen, Sakura-centric, Sasuke thinks of Sakura, Within Canon timeline, contemplates deeply indeed, written before Canon end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikochan_noda/pseuds/mikochan_noda
Summary: (of her)A mental counter ticks in Sasuke’s mind, taking in the number of misses her kunai makes.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: Sasusaku-Headcanons [2012-2014] [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765711
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	surrender to all the splendor

**[six. seven.]**

A mental counter ticks in Sasuke’s mind, taking in the number of misses her kunai makes. The knives clatter and scatter before the circular stand, and he flinches when the girl whines about how this is a futile exercise. Her long pink hair is tied and gathered on her head, with the _hitai-te_ placed beside her pack, walking to the practice area to collect each _kunai_ before starting it all over again. 

**[nine. ten.]**

A few days earlier, he had dreaded the _genin_ cell formation, knowing beforehand that in every team, there would always be a single girl to complete it. And from the list of female students in his class, most of them he had either labeled unremarkable, pathetic, or annoying. Almost all of the girls hounded his every step and were unmindful of their nin studies. They were simpering kids, uninitiated to what they were really signing up for, who thought that a _shinobi_ career is synonymous with glory and fame. 

**[thirteen. fourteen.]**

Sakura qualified under his list of despised labels, and the worst of all, she is _weak_. The only saving grace is her above average intelligence, of how she can retain the smallest of details and spill academic definitions verbatim. A useless attribute when faced with the unpredictability of battle, when failing bodies and blinding panic overrides the brilliant mind. That same intelligence that can only do so much but to prolong your suffering - filling your dying thoughts with regrets, with pain, with memories - before you expire.

**[sixteen. seventeen.]**

He nearly wished that he had a different female teamate, like those two girls who were familiar to what a _shinobi_ life entails, even expecting that they _might_ meet his expectations. For example, his team mate’s rival, Yamanaka, was rather unpleasant, but he can deal with it as he can practically use her skill set of interrogation and information gathering, an important shinobi task. Likewise, the Hyuuga heir might be too withdrawn for a _kunoichi_ , but she is trained to lead a powerful clan, which could be a deadly asset for sensitive political missions. 

They would’ve been made a good _kunoichi_.

**[twenty. twenty-one.]**

Sakura is normal. This normal girl who lived in a loving household. Probably had never seen an animal die, much less a person she loved. She would have probably only known of battlefields through storybooks, in romanticized tales. Never knew the pain of living alone, where the only calluses in her pale, soft hands were formed by constant note-takings - who has only known death and casualties as mere statistics. The rules of a shinobi memorized as mere details in a test, not taken to heart. Those bottle-green eyes still trap in sunlight, or brim with salted dew-tears as easily as she could speak without thinking. 

**[twenty-five. twenty-six.]**

But Sasuke does respect her intelligence, thinks that though Sakura could never get to be a jounin, she would be a perfect _chuunin_ instructor. In due time, she would finally settle down and start a family, make _bentos_ like big enough to feed her two ravenous [ _black-haired, green-eyed_ ] boys…

He stops his line of thought and knows that she needs a man more deserving and less complex than a _shinobi_ to be with. She’ll be spared from a painful and perilous life, and might even painlessly die in old age. 

Sakura is not meant for battle. Sakura is all smiles and laughter and porcelain….

Sakura is weak.

And it’s better this way. This is the reason why he doesn’t correct the way her fingers curve around the handle ( _too tight_ ) or the angle of her throw ( _the manual is a little incorrect, it doesn’t say the specific degrees, and takes practice to get the right 12.5°._ ) A stronger Sakura meant that visions of shorn pink hair, with her cold body in a red field, is sickeningly more possible than a weak Sakura who is out of the front lines.

**[twenty-nine. thir…]**

The blade hits its mark. 

Quickly, he averts his gaze and returns to his task in cleaning his wires. Sakura turns and cries _did you see that sasuke-kun?_ , and feels the deflation of disappointment when she realizes that he’s not ( _really_ ) watching. But something inside him burns when he hears a sigh and she walks with that new determined step. He listens again to the comforting rhythm of the whistling knife and thudding wood, hiding the small wry smile to himself, and gives her due credit. 

Sakura is weak, but there are traces of courage that he admires in her, that determined little frown on her face as she tries and tries _and tries_ to catch up. 

He agrees. Indeed, her attempts are futile.

But if there is one thing that Uchiha Sasuke appreciates, it’s ( _her_ ) fire.

([x](http://lilmikomiko.tumblr.com))

Three years later, that fire blazed, turned into _stars_ as her fist breaks the earth. 

Sakura holds his gaze, with that determined little frown and a _kunai_ at hand. She throws it at him and aims true.

_[the sunlight in her eyes burned with thousands of sunflames, conflagrating his mind clean of those almost-forgotten dreams of his china doll-sakuras. ]_

Sasuke no longer conceals the way he looks at her.

**Author's Note:**

> posted at sasusaku-headcanons last 07|14|2012. [ **[LINK](https://sasusaku-headcanons.tumblr.com/post/27196044713/)** ]


End file.
